


To Be a Role Model

by RobinWritesChirps



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Background Becky Barnes/Tom Houston, Domestic Fluff, Drabble Collection, F/M, Families of Choice, Fluff, Gen, Parent-Child Relationship, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26473555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinWritesChirps/pseuds/RobinWritesChirps
Summary: A series of little drabbles about how life is faring between Tom and Lex over the years of their lives as he welcomes her into his home to share his life and his family. Not necessarily in chronological order.
Relationships: Lex Foster & Tom Houston
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	1. Love is love

**Author's Note:**

> Initially I had meant this to be a longer one-shot collecting all the drabbles into a chronological order but that’s just not how this story wanted to be told so I’m making this a collection.

He knew she had something to tell him long before she said a word. Days before, in fact, weeks, but Tom had never been one to prompt a conversation if he could wait it out patiently. Lex wasn't a chatterbox either, though he would never have considered her shy. She had just enough reserve to keep her feelings on her heart, but not enough for him not to notice they were brewing right past the surface. Perhaps selfishly or wrongly, he trusted her to come to him if she needed. She had before. She would again. 

She had taken to building with him, a few carpentry gigs here and there. Her basics had been a little loose, forgotten after months without, but she was a fast and focused learner and Tom was certain she would catch up with him soon, if not surpass him entirely. She did so much better than she gave herself credit for, carpentry or not. 

"Hey, Tom," she called out.

"Mmh?"

She was not looking at him at all. Her eyes were down, staring at the planks very intently with a caution he rarely saw from her. They were building a new bed for Hannah, some mezzanine with a fort underneath so she could have a private space of her own even sharing a bedroom with Lex. One day, they'd get a bigger house, he thought, but it always helped to make the best of the place they had in the present. Lex marked measurements against the wood, biting her lip. 

"I've been dating someone," she said under her breath. He would have barely heard her over the tools if he weren't paying so close attention.

"That's nice," he said. "Anyone I know?"

Lex cleared her throat awkwardly. 

"Yeah, erm... It's Bea." 

"The Hatchetfield bee?" He frowned. 

She rolled her eyes.

"Her name is Beatrice. She's... a girl. Cause I'm gay."

Tom caught himself mouth open, a little surprised, and shut it at once. He didn't know why he had not expected a confession. He had imagined he would find out by some accident confirming his suspicion, but this was better. This was perfect. 

"I think that's great," he hurried to say. He reached out to touch her shoulder. "That you're... I mean, I love that, it's... it's really great. I'm proud of you." 

She was looking at him more bewildered than grateful and he felt a pang of shame in his heart. 

"Love is love?" He tried. "I'm glad you told me. Thank you for trusting me."

Lex was locked in a silent stare and he was at a loss to get her out of it. Finally he sighed. 

"I’m sorry," he said. "I’m just trying to tell you I support you." 

She was still squinting suspiciously, but she smirked a little. 

"Yeah, I kinda got that vibe," she said, chuckling. 

Tom felt himself safe in pulling her in for a hug and was relieved when she gave it very readily back. He kissed the top of her head. 

"Did you google all that or something?" She asked, muffled into his torso as he rubbed her back softly. 

He shook his head. 

"Nah. Maybe I should’ve." 

"Nah," she said. "You did alright." 

There came a pause and after a moment it seemed that, whatever Lex was going to say, she kept to herself. The rest of the afternoon, she found every excuse to thank him for the most minor help, every favor, and the bed was sturdy and strong when they were done.


	2. Happy news

They told Tim first, and together, Becky’s gentle ways adding onto his greater familiarity with his own father. He was a good kid, of course, markedly easy-going and charming but even the best of boys could be shaken by bigger changes and they wanted to grant him some time to digest the news before the whole family knew of it. Tom did not know whether he had expected outrage and tears. Either way, all that came out was boundless excitement, a sign which both of them chose to take as foreboding of how telling the girls would go too. It was decided that Tom would tell Lex and Becky would Hannah before the end of the next day. 

Though this had been his request, Tom found the words failing him all morning at work as Lex and him renovated some kitchen they never could have afforded in the house of a wealthy couple. For lunch, the lady ordered them a pizza which Lex and Tom shared on the table of the tiled patio. Birds were chirping and there was a pleasantly warm breeze. She had grabbed her half of the pizza greedily and Tom slipped her an extra slice. Becky had texted him a picture of her and Hannah cradling her belly. 

"I wanted to tell you…" 

Lex’s mouth was full but she nodded at him to go on.

"Mmh?" 

Tom breathed deep. They had told Tim, hadn’t they? But Becky had been doing most of the talking, as she did, and he was now regretting not having told all kids at once. He munched on another bite of pizza. Cheap and too salty, but it was fine. It would be fine. 

"We’re, erm, we’re expecting." 

"What are you expecting?" 

He frowned. At least the soda was straight from the fridge, cool on a warm summer day. Small blessings among bigger ones among annoyances. Lex gulped down a large chug of it. 

"A child? Well, a baby." His fingers tapped the table nervously. "Becky’s pregnant."

Her mouth gaped open, the slice of pizza mid-air gooing cheese on the napkin underneath. Before he could say a word, she shook her head and shoved the rest of the slice in her mouth at once.

"Shit, dude," she said. "I didn’t think you were still potent." 

Likely as not, this was a joke. Judging by the smirk she hid in the next bite, it really was. 

"What the…" But he fell silent and grumbled into his soda. "I was gonna tell you this changes nothing and we still love you." 

Though still amused, Lex seemed a little touched. 

"I’m twenty, sir, I can handle one more brat at home. You don’t need to pacify me." She pushed back the slice of pizza he had given her as a peace offering. "Though you can still tell me all that."

Hesitantly, Tom reached over, but he didn’t care for pizza all that much. He held Lex’s hand. A small hand, calloused from manual labor but still gentle, still something child-like about her despite it all. 

"This changes nothing," he said truthfully, stroking her palm. "And we still love you." 

She bit her lip and looked at him for a long time before eating again, but not even cheap pizza could hide her grin.


	3. Title earned

They never asked of Lex to take care of her new brother. They did not think she had to, not after more parental duties than any sister ought ever to perform at too young an age. Of course, the occasional babysitting, changing a diaper or two or soothing his wails when he was grouchy during the day, but this was no more than Tim and Hannah volunteered to do as well. Lex seemed both deeply engrossed and utterly detached from the baby, which suited everyone just fine. Affectionate, but more inwardly so. Having been forced to be more like a mother, Lex was now thriving as an elder sister.

"Shit, can you go get him?" Tom asked when the phone started to bawl with the baby’s cries.

He was elbow deep in tomato sauce and vainly trying to press the tablet for the next page of the recipe he had picked for tonight’s dinner. Still, an infant never could wait and soon he could hear the cries of his son not just through the speaker but also across the few walls separating him from the nursery. Becky was working late, Tim was at practice and Hannah was in her room, though she kept her noise canceling headphones more often than not since Nicholas had been born.

"Sure," Lex said and disappeared on the other side of the home.

It took only a minute for the boy to be soothed, which gave Tom some peace of mind and he started cooking again, something Italian and mild which would suit Hannah's recently developed extra picky preferences - perhaps rebellion against the new baby coming into the household. When Lex came back a few minutes later, she was bouncing the boy at her hip, wide awake and giggling.

"The monster is up," she said, pinching Nicholas's cheeks and smiling down at him. "I'm sueing for emotional damage, I had to change him and he'd made a big mess. Didn't you, stinky?"

But her tone was kind and humorous and the boy only laughed as she poked his chubby cheeks affectionately.

"Can you bring his playpen over here? I wanna keep an eye on him."

Lex grabbed the cheap plastic pen from the living room to drag it to the kitchen. The room was more than a tad cramped with it between the table and the counter but Tom always preferred to have his children close by when he could do so. She dropped a few toys inside, fabric cubes and the soft rhino Hannah had bought him as a thank you gift for being born.

"Well, you heard dad, then," she told her brother as she put him down next to the pile of plushies. The cat hopped over the wall to join the party and Lex smirked. "In the cage you go."

Tom's ears might as well have perked all the way up but he said nothing. Looking down, he re-read every step of the recipe one more time, anything to focus his mind. Sliced eggplant, layers of pasta and sauce, parmesan cheese... He and Becky had started calling each other 'Mommy' or 'Daddy' around the boy to encourage him to learn the words, though he had not yet uttered them. Lex had not either, not before this instant. Like a wild animal, she could be skittish and easy to scare off, though, and Tom was afraid she'd take it back too fiercely if he pointed out what she'd just said. Still, he was beaming at the tablet screen and at the boy when he threw him a glance. He found Nicholas sucking on the cat's tail quietly.

"Can you get the cat out of the pen, too?" Tom sighed.

"I dunno, looks to me like he's all cozy in there."

" _Please_."

Lex snorted, but took pity on him and leaned over to grab the poor cat out of Nicholas's grasp. Unbothered, he walked off with all the dignity any cat could muster.

"Thanks, bud," he told her.

The dish was coming together nicely and Tom washed his hands once the last layer was all spread out. In the year after Jane passed, he and Tim had been relying on more pre-made meals than any kid ought to ingest in a lifetime. Since Becky, though, since he had taken his little existence back into his own hands, cooking had become a habit every other day and almost a joy. He hoped Hannah would like this.

"No prob, dad."

He paused again, the towel between his palms. This was no slip of the tongue - it was intentional, twice in a row. And if there was an intent to show the closer bond between them, then Tom would be remiss not to acknowledge it at all, fearful little beast or not. Lex was on her phone at the table and feigning not knowing the importance of the very word just out of her mouth. Tom mussed her hair gently and she groaned.

"Don't make me regret saying it," she said under her breath.

At that, Tom broke into a smirk and, leaning down from behind, he hugged the girl close and pressed many kisses against her hair.

"It's too late," he said, "Cause you've said it and I heard it."

Though she sighed, Lex leaned back into the embrace and her hands clung to his arms around her. They shared a glance.

"Alright," she said, still a mumbled mutter, for emotions always came to Lex with much difficulty. "Then I don't regret it too much."


End file.
